One Maidenhead business has cut down on fuel costs and time wasted in traffic jams thanks to a Sustainable Routes grant.

A4 Selfstore, a self storage and removal business, received a match-funded Sustainable Routes grant to help them buy an Apple Mac laptop which allows them to work on the go.

Bruce Chapman, Director of A4 Selfstore in Maidenhead, heard about Sustainable Routes through one of his colleagues. “I didn’t believe it at first,” he says, “that they could just give you money to help you buy something for your business needs. But it’s true, and I bought a high end Apple Macbook laptop which I would not have done if it wasn’t for the Sustainable Routes grant helping to make it affordable.”

How has the laptop helped business? “Well, me and the team are constantly on the move during the day in order to provide quotes for clients. This means going to visit numerous properties throughout the region and then having to travel back to the office, navigating busy traffic, totting up mileage and fuel costs all the while, just so we can send through the paperwork and confirm a quote for the client.”

Having previously had to return to their offices to process paperwork and issue quotations, Bruce says that “thanks to the laptop, which we have linked up to our iPhones, we can now send the details of the quotes by email literally as soon as we leave the property. We get calls from our clients minutes later saying ‘How did you do that so fast?’ It helps to give us that professional touch and has definitely led to more business for us.” The company estimates that they’ll be able to save around 8,000 miles of driving as a result of the grant.

Sustainable Routes Project Manager, Sam Hampton said: “This is an example of a simple but effective use of the grant, allowing a small business to work more efficiently and cut emissions from driving”.

Sustainable Routes grants are available for businesses in the South East of England to enable them to travel more sustainably. Other companies have used the grant to buy bicycle shelters, install showers, convert company cars to LPG and much more.

Find out more about getting a Sustainable Routes grant by calling 01494 569061 or visiting www.sustainableroutes.co.uk.